


In the Dark

by TangentQueenOfDragons



Category: Death Note
Genre: Non-Binary Mello, Non-binary character, just a bit of fluff, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-05
Updated: 2015-05-05
Packaged: 2018-03-29 03:25:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3880432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TangentQueenOfDragons/pseuds/TangentQueenOfDragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the sun was up, they were rivals, and Mello was brash and angry and hostile, and Near was cold and aloof. But in the dark, with only the moon and stars as witnesses, Mello was fragile, and Near was warmth and comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Edit; After some frankly awful backlash, I'd like to say that if you have a problem with Mello being non-binary or the use of they pronouns, kindly keep your comments to yourself or you will be reported.

During the day, Mello was brash and angry and hostile

At night, they were emotionally exhausted, and sometimes they were scared.

Near was the only one who ever saw them like that. He wondered if that was part of the reason why they professed to hate him so much.

Most nights, Mello struggled to even get to sleep, laying in bed, muscles tense and breathing heavy. They didn't toss and turn like most people desperately seeking slumber do, like you would expect them to, considering how restless they were during the day. They were too stiff, painfully so, their muscles so tense they shook.

Near remembered the first night he left the warm folds of his own duvet and climbed into Mello's bed. The other hadn't protested; in fact, they said nothing as he nestled behind them, his breath tickling the back of their neck and his arm looped around their waist. Near waited for Mello to push him off and start shouting at him, but they didn't. Their breathing began to soften, their muscles relaxed, and slowly, hesitantly, their hand moved to link their fingers with Near's. 

"Try to get some sleep," Near had whispered.

Nothing else was said, and within minutes, Mello had drifted off.

It became an almost nightly ritual after that. Always the same, a repetitive series of motions. The only words ever spoken were 'try to get some sleep'. The same, almost every night.

Except the nights when it wasn't.

The first time, it had been on one of the nights when Mello had managed to find sleep alone. Near lay in his own bed, his sleep so light that he was awake the moment Mello sat up with a jolt, their breathing coming out in pants like they had just been running.

Mello had looked over at Near, their eyes wide and frantic, and Near had responded by pulling back his duvet.

The silent invitation was met in kind. Mello untangled themself from their own sheets and slipped without hesitation into Near's bed. They buried their face into his chest, their hand finding his and holding it tightly. Near wove his free hand through Mello's hair, twirling the soft strands around his fingers, silent as he did so, silent as Mello slowly stopped shaking and their breathing returned to normal, until the silence was broken by Mello's muffled, "I don't want to talk about it."

"I know," he had responded, surprised that Mello had felt it needed saying, and had said it, had shattered their resolve of silence in their little night time world. But it had been a special case, and special cases always called for a change in pattern. Maybe that was why Near had pressed a soft kiss to the top of Mello's head before whispering his usual line.

"Try to get some sleep."

When the sun was up, they were rivals, and Mello was brash and angry and hostile, and Near was cold and aloof. But in the dark, with only the moon and stars as witnesses, Mello was fragile, and Near was warmth and comfort. It wouldn't have made sense to anyone else - didn't even make sense to the two of them - but then, it didn't really matter. There were no questions in the dark, only a peace, fragile in some ways, and in others, as strong as the wills of the two youngsters themselves.

So maybe, in a way, it made sense after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in about 20 minutes, but the last few sentences took two days lol (I majorly suck at endings). I recently revisited the second half of Death Note for the first time in about five years and I now have a new appreciation for these two.
> 
> Please leave a comment telling me what you think! Thanks for reading :)


End file.
